CHAPTER ONE
THE PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT TOWARDS CESAREAN SECTION
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Pregnancy as a physiologic state is expected to lead to a process of delivery within thirty six weeks (36) of gestation in a normal delivery but due to the different reasons such as variation in human body, sizes, races, external factors e.t.c, it can be a very unpleasant experience as women may have difficulties in being delivered of the pregnancy they have carried over many weeks.
Hence, to save the life of both mother and child in some cases, a cesarean section. A cesarean section also known as C/S is an operation technique by which a fetus is delivered through an indications can either be maternal or fetal. The trend of acceptability and the rate of C/S has been on the increase in the developed countries in the past two decades. In the United State of America, it has revolved off a 32.8% in 2010 and 2011 (Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ, 2010). Several cesarean sections are sometimes done for justifiable medical and non-medical indications sequently the rate of C/S in Europe and North America have been increasing (Declercq ER, Sakela C, Corry MP, 2013).
Conversely, in the developing countries, the change in C/S rate has been dramatic during the same period. This results from negative perception of C/S among women in the developing countries. C/S is still being perceived as an abnormal means of delivery by some women in developing countries, hence C/S rate in Sub-Saharan African Country like Burkina Faso and Niger is as low as 2% (Sunday Adeoje I, Kalu CA, 2011).
Among women in the developing countries, C/S is still being perceived as a curse on an unfruitful women and the lot of weak women. In a study among Yoruba women of South western Nigeria, C/S was viewed with suspicious, aversion, misconception, fear, guilt misery and anger. (Sunday-Adeoje et al, 2011).
In Nigeria, as in most sub-Saharan African countries, it has been suggested that women reluctantly accept C/S even in the face of obvious clinical indications. Also, negative view and perception of C/S by women in the developing country has led to gross underathizetlien of the procedure compared to the large burden of obstetric morbid requiring resolution by C/S (AzikenMicheal, Lawrence Omo-Aghoja 2010).